


Strangely Happy

by EllieCee



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Letters, pining? kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-15
Updated: 2014-10-15
Packaged: 2018-02-21 05:38:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2456777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieCee/pseuds/EllieCee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami receives a letter from Korra, two years later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strangely Happy

**Author's Note:**

> Also found on my [Korra tumblr](http://criesbckorra.tumblr.com/tagged/myfic).
> 
> I am Korrasami trash basically. Very short and unbeta'ed.

Papers crumpled beneath Asami’s cheek as the sound of knocking jolted her awake.

She was met with blinding sunlight from her office window. 

_Great, I ended up working through the night._

The knocking grew louder.

"Come in," Asami rasped, fussing with her tangled hair.

She scooped up the loose papers on her desk and attempted to sort them, chastising herself for never keeping anything in order. She sighed as she noticed she’d managed to drool on one of the final designs of the airbending suits. 

The door opened, messenger boy Akut walking in, annoyingly chipper at that early hour.

"Here you go, Miss Sato," he said, smiling brightly, a wad of letters in his hands.

Asami smiled weakly and took them. Her head was pounding hard, neck aching. She longed for a soft bed under her worn limbs.

"Thanks," Asami replied, handing Akut a tip.

"No, thank  _you,_ " Akut said, beaming at the tip. Asami watched as he cheerily exited. 

Asami leaned back and cracked her neck, trying to figure out the day’s itinerary. Her head was fuzzy and heavy from lack of sleep. She threw the pile of paperwork aside and shuffled through the stack of mail.

More bills and business propositions.

She saw a green corner amidst the stack of white envelopes and pulled it out. A telegram from Bolin.

> _Dinner tonight at Kwong’s with Mako? I’m in town and I miss you both :) - Bolin._

Asami felt a smile creep up to her face and pushed a mental note to reply to Bolin.

She sorted through rest, separating bills from business matters. Her heart came to a full stop when she reached the last envelope. 

The return address read: 

_Korra_  
Water Palace  
Southern Water Tribe 

Asami’s heart pounded from her chest as her tingling fingers struggled to open the envelope. Her sweaty palms nearly dropped the letter inside.

> _Dear Asami,_  
>   
>  _I’m sorry I haven’t written to you sooner, but every time I’ve tried I never knew what to say._  
>   
>  _The past two years have been the hardest of my life. Even though I can get around fine now, I still can’t go into the Avatar State. I keep having visions of Zaheer, and what happened that day. Katara thinks a lot of this is in my head, so I’ve been meditating a lot, but sometimes I worry I’ll never fully recover._  
>   
>  _Please don’t tell Mako and Bolin I wrote to you and not them. I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but it’s easier to tell you about this stuff. I don’t think they’d understand._
> 
> _Love, Korra_

Asami felt her heart leap at the word love - but she quickly shrugged it off as she carefully folded the letter up and put it back in the envelope. She didn’t realize that she’d been shaking.

It’d been two years.

Two  _entire_ years. The countless letters she, Mako, and Bolin had sent were all unanswered at that time. They’d all worried for long periods of time, only to be ensured by Tenzin that Korra needed space, and that she was in good hands.

That’s what kept Asami going. 

Asami let her fingers run over Korra’s name on the envelope. She  _had_ to tell Bolin and Mako. It wouldn’t be fair, she thought, if they didn’t know how Korra had been doing. She didn’t need to tell them about Korra’s visions of Zaheer. 

She tried not to think of it, but the letter had given her a warm feeling in her stomach, like finding out where your parents had hidden your presents.

—

Asami spied Bolin and Mako sitting at a booth. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and clutched her purse tightly. The precious letter was in there. 

"Asami!" Bolin called. He was decked out in a handsome army uniform - Kuvira’s army uniform. It’s sight was becoming more prominent lately. 

She waved at them, Mako giving her smile.

"Where have you been?" Bolin asked, as Asami took a seat next to him.

"Traffic was horrible," Asami replied. The smell of food saturating the air made Asami realized how long it’d been since she had a proper meal. 

"Yeah," Mako said, "There’s some presentation from Kuvira’s supporters."

"Is Kuvira going to make an appearance?" Asami asked. 

"I don’t think so. She told us she was only speaking at the press conference tomorrow to update on the happenings," Bolin replied.

Asami clutched her purse again and thought of a way to tell them about the letter. Her thoughts mixing with the buzzing in the restaurant made her head pound.

"So…," Mako said slowly, "Anyone heard from Korra?"

Asami felt her stomach twist. She tried to slow down the pounding in her chest and looked at Bolin.

_Please don’t tell Mako and Bolin I wrote to you and not them._

"No," Bolin said sadly, "Tenzin says she’s fine though."

_I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but it’s easier to tell you about this stuff._

Asami discreetly opened her purse underneath the table and felt for the letter. Should she tell them?

"How about you, Asami?" Mako asked. The bright lights in the restaurant seemed to be shining all on her now. 

_I don’t think they’d understand._

"Uh, no," Asami suddenly said. She felt ten times hotter. 

Bolin and Mako looked at her strangely. 

"Oh," Mako said, a tinge of disappointment in his voice, "Well, what can we do? Tenzin’s right. She’ll be ready when she is."

He smiled weakly at Bolin and Asami.

"What’s that you’re holding?" Bolin asked.

Asami’s muscles tensed up. She felt herself crumple the letter in her sweaty hands. 

"T-this?" she stuttered as she shoved the letter as deep into her purse as she could. "It’s uh…f-from Varrick. I actually w-wanted to tell you guys about this stupid business proposition he asked me."

"Am I going to end up framed again?" Mako asked, chuckling.

Asami felt her muscles relax.

"No," she replied, smiling. Bolin laughed.

She told them something about Varrick wanting to sell airbending suits globally. But she didn’t tell them about the letter. 

She didn’t tell them when she received letters from them later, saying how they wished they’d hear from Korra. 

She kept the letter by her nightstand. She reads it again sometimes; the letter makes her feel closer to Korra - and she thinks it’s selfish to feel strangely happy that Korra chose  _her_ to write to.

But she feels strangely happy anyway.


End file.
